It is not a particularly well known fact, or even a particularly significant one, but up until today Old Centralians have never lost at Lily Hill Park. It is fair to say that their P 1 – W 1 record at Bracknell is not an exceptional statistic but when Bracknell lost at home to Old Cents last season it was a shock and it exposed the stark reality that automatic promotion was not a foregone conclusion. Having beaten Old Cents away when it mattered to win the league last season; and then again today, I guess it is fair to say that Bracknell definitely have the upper hand now

Having been Bracknell’s only real rivals for promotion last season it is a surprise to see the difference in fortunes between the two sides this season. That being said, the early exchanges didn’t give any clues as to who was 2nd and who was bottom of the league. Bracknell probably had the best of possession but Old Cents showed skill and subtlety in the backs that had the potential to punish any slack defending by the home side.

After an early missed penalty however, Bracknell were first to make the scorer put his pint down with a try from who else but George Milligan, extended to 7 – 0 by Liam Prescott who started at 10 for the first time in recent weeks.

5 minutes later Old Cents reduced the deficit to 4 points with a penalty but a brace of tries from the strong running of Ian Burch opened a gap in the scores that Old Cents would never close. Although the conversions were missed the half time score of 17 – 3 was indicative of Bracknell’s control of the game.

I am only guessing when I write that the half time team talk for both sides revolved around bonus points – but with the end result never really being in doubt, bonus points must have been the ambition of both sides.

Whatever was said, the second half saw Old Cents defend bravely to prevent Bracknell from scoring that all important 4th try and they did so valiantly for some considerable time. Although Bracknell were to dominate possession and territory they may have been guilty of forcing passes and committing unnecessary errors, which combined with the visitor’s dogged defence led to 30 minutes of scoreless stalemate.

As the Bracknell home support were busy explaining to former players of an elder generation why kickable penalties were being turned down due to the complexities of the bonus point system a timely score in the 70th minute by Nico Maybury put an end to the debate. Following several phases of play a fine run starting close to the half way line by Bracknell’s captain cut open the Old Cents defence out wide with such pace that he was untouched all the way to the line for Bracknell’s 4th try. 22 – 3

With the battle for the bonus point going the way of the home side a deflated Old Cents conceded yet another try just two minutes later, scored by Stuart MacKay and converted by Liam Prescott to put the game and points beyond doubt. 29 – 3.

The game ended with a “consolation” try for Old Cents, well converted from the touchline 29 – 10.

For Bracknell it was yet another bonus point win and a job well done!

Bracknell – Jack Petelo, Stuart Silvester, Ken Dowding, Kenny Barry, Ollie Taylor, Matt Brambley, George Milligan, Nico Maybury (C), Daniel Ap Dafydd, Liam Prescott, Ian Burch, Ben Nowak, Tom Saunders, Stuart Mackay, Daniel Antonelli. Subs – Jonny Mirza, Jonny Baugh, Joe Price, "Storming" Norman “Taff” Jones

Pete Predictions

The “consolation” try that Old Centralians scored in the last minute of the game against Bracknell will have given nothing more than a talking point on the long journey home and will have been of little consolation to the visitors in their fight against relegation. The bonus point system means that “for and against” points difference very rarely has any impact on league position so the 5 – 0 result of this match will do nothing for Old Cents’ hope of avoiding relegation.

Meanwhile, the benefit of Bracknell’s hard fought bonus point wins against Old Pats and Old Cents over the last two weeks is now slightly more apparent in the league as our nearest rivals, Old Redcliffians and Redingensians failed to secure bonus points in their otherwise predictable wins on the road against bottom half of the table sides.

Two sides did manage to beat opposition placed higher than them in the league this week – one being Worcester at home to Weston – but of more concern to Bracknell, Newton Abbot are the first side this season to travel to Barnstaple and come away with a win. Only one other side have left Barnstaple with anything other than a loss and that was Bracknell with their draw against “Barum” back in early October.

This brings next week’s fixture sharply into focus as Bracknell travel to Newton Abbot for the second of this season’s three tough excursions into deepest Devon. If today’s result is anything to go by Bracknell will have their work cut out.

GO BRFC